South West · Non-metropolitan district

North Devon

2026/27 view

North Devon · ONS E07000043

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources

COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

20/ 100

COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Significant pressure

Compared only with non-metropolitan district councils using central government returns.

164 councils in peer group Rank 152 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated

Reserves cover12

Debt burden44

Liquidity12

Debt direction4

YEAR-ON-YEAR CONTEXT Change from the previous reported period Each measure uses its own official reporting timetable.

Net debt £20.58m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4

+£5.13m 33.2%

Service expenditure £12.94m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

+£4.03m 45.3%

Unallocated reserves £1.24m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

£0.00 0.0%

FIVE-YEAR FINANCIAL TREND

How this council's finances have changed

Official annual outturn. Each line uses its own scale so direction remains easy to read.

Through 2024/25

Service expenditure £12.94m

5.7%

Net revenue expenditure £19.58m

21.2%

Council Tax requirement £10.79m

21.4%

Unallocated reserves £1.24m

2.2%

COUNCILMETRICS COMMUNITY SCORE Share your experience 0 of 25 responses collected before results are published

Score this council

Political controlNot yet recordedAdministration not identified

Council leaderNot identifiedParty not identified

Resident population101,2222024 estimate

Latest net debt£20.58m2026/27 Q1 quarter end

WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

Official Defra measures for North Devon, with like-for-like comparison against collection authorities.

2024/25

44.9%recycled

Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

0.9 percentage points vs 2023/24

66 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%

Residual waste424.4 kgper household+3.8 kg year on year

Waste collected375.4 kgper resident−0.8 kg year on year

Household waste38,044tonnes collected17,079 tonnes recycled

WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

17,079 t recycled, composted or reused 20,966 t not recycled

RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

44.9%

2015/162024/25

EDUCATION

Schools and education

Schools, pupil numbers and latest education outcomes across North Devon.

2024/25

SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools

59 Open schools

14,390 Pupils

16,867 School places

85.3% Capacity utilisation

ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in North Devon.

Attainment 8

45.9

South West 46.2

England 46.1

0.2 points below England

English & maths grade 5+

47.9%

South West 46.2%

England 45.4%

2.5 percentage points above England

EBacc entry

38.3%

South West 33.0%

England 40.5%

2.2 percentage points below England

PROGRESS

Progress 8

-0.05

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.

TREND

Attainment 8 over time

44.7 18/19

46.8 19/20

47.5 20/21

47.1 21/22

44.0 22/23

45.4 23/24

45.9 24/25

Education context

North Devon's latest Key Stage 4 outcomes show a mixed picture when compared with South West and England.

Department for Education · Key Stage 4 performance · Pupil residency

HOUSING & AFFORDABILITY

Housing costs and local earnings

House prices and affordability for North Devon, based on the earnings of local residents.

2025

Median house price

£295,000

+ 14.1% over five years

Median resident earnings

£32,682

+ 32.5% over five years

House price to earnings

9.03×

Improved from 10.48× five years ago

PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in North Devon.

£845 / month

-0.1% in the last year

July 2026

North Devon

£845

-0.1%

South West

£1,236

+ 4.5%

England

£1,451

+ 3.8%

Compared with South West £391 less per month

Compared with England £606 less per month

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

Median house price as a multiple of median resident earnings. Lower is more affordable.

North Devon

9.03×

South West

8.26×

England

7.64×

Compared with South West Less affordable

Compared with England Less affordable

Source: Office for National Statistics · Housing affordability in England and Wales · House prices year ending September · Residence-based earnings

PLANNING & HOUSING DELIVERY

Is development moving through the system?

Quarterly planning decisions and the government's latest three-year Housing Delivery Test.

2026 Q1

Applications received187this quarter+3 vs 2025 Q4

Applications decided197this quarter−32 vs 2025 Q4

Outstanding applications—at quarter end

94.9%approved

Overall approval rate187 granted10 refused+0.2 pts vs previous quarter

DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

95.9%

Rank 80 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

1.0 percentage points lower than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major887.5%100.0% Minor9191.2%96.7% Other9899.0%94.9%

QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters

HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

122%

Required2,212homes over three years

Delivered2,698homes over three years

100% requirement

No consequenceHDT 2025 government assessment

CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

Latest police-recorded crime figures for North Devon, excluding fraud.

Year ending Mar 2026

Recorded offences 9,458 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud

Crime rate 55.3 offences per 1,000 residents

Annual change + 0.1% compared with the previous year

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents

North Devon Your council

55.3 + 0.1%

South West Region

73.5 + 1.3%

England National

83.4 − 1.5%

North Devon has a recorded crime rate 24.8% below South West. It is 33.7% below the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Devon and Cornwall

Violence 4,211

24.6 per 1,000 − 0.2%

Theft 2,275

13.3 per 1,000 + 7.9%

Public order 764

4.5 per 1,000 + 4.1%

Criminal damage 986

5.8 per 1,000 − 10.1%

Shoplifting 940

5.5 per 1,000 + 5.1%

Vehicle offences 188

1.1 per 1,000 + 31.5%

Burglary 310

1.8 per 1,000 − 4.0%

Drug offences 247

1.4 per 1,000 − 31.6%

Crime figures cover the North Devon Community Safety Partnership, including North Devon, Torridge.

ONS / Home Office · Police-recorded crime · Community Safety Partnership data

SCHOOLS & OFSTED

Schools and inspection outcomes

Open schools, pupil numbers and the latest published Ofsted inspection position for North Devon.

59 schools

Open schools 59

Pupils 14,390

School places 16,867

Capacity used 85.3%

Primary 47 schools

7,562 pupils

Other / specialist 6 schools

1,020 pupils

Secondary 6 schools

5,808 pupils

CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information

Renewed framework 4

6.8% of open schools

Previous full framework 34

57.6% of open schools

Ungraded inspection 17

28.8% of open schools

No Ofsted record 3

5.1% of open schools

No published outcome 1

1.7% of open schools

RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

4 schools assessed

Achievement 4 assessed

Expected standard 3

Strong standard 1

Attendance & behaviour 4 assessed

Expected standard 3

Strong standard 1

Curriculum & teaching 4 assessed

Expected standard 3

Strong standard 1

Inclusion 4 assessed

Expected standard 2

Strong standard 2

Leadership & governance 4 assessed

Expected standard 3

Strong standard 1

Personal development 4 assessed

Expected standard 2

Strong standard 2

Safeguarding 4 assessed

Met 4

PREVIOUS FRAMEWORK

Legacy Ofsted ratings

These ratings apply only to schools whose latest full inspection remains under the previous Ofsted framework. Schools assessed under the renewed framework are shown separately above.

Good 18

Requires improvement 3

Not judged 13

LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools

School	Phase	Pupils	Capacity	Latest Ofsted position
Ashleigh CofE Primary School URN 145810 · EX32 8LJ	Primary	205	295	Good
Berrynarbor Church of England Primary School URN 150915 · EX34 9SE	Primary	69	84	Good
Bishops Nympton Primary School URN 113133 · EX36 4PU	Primary	80	—	Not judged
Bishops Tawton Primary School URN 113134 · EX32 0AE	Primary	161	168	Renewed framework
Bratton Fleming Community Primary School URN 145809 · EX31 4SB	Primary	70	115	Good
Brayford Academy URN 141761 · EX32 7QJ	Primary	32	49	Good
Caen Community Primary School URN 113138 · EX33 1AD	Primary	328	420	Good
Chulmleigh Primary School URN 137023 · EX18 7AA	Primary	226	170	Good

School information: Get Information about Schools (GIAS). Inspection information: Ofsted monthly management information. Inspection frameworks differ over time, so renewed-framework standards and previous overall effectiveness grades are shown separately.

Published expenditure£0.00No spending file imported

Revenue budget£0.00Not imported

Reported overspend£0.00Not imported outturn

Contracts00 active

Identified suppliers0Normalised entities

PEOPLE AND PLACE

Population snapshot

View full People profile

Population 101,222 2024

South West region 5,889,695

Five-year population change

+3,897 residents ↑ 4.0%

North Devon +4.0%

South West +4.4%

England +4.3%

Growth context

North Devon's population grew over five years. Its change was broadly in line with the South West and broadly in line with England.

2019–2024 ONS mid-year estimates

Population estimates and labour-market measures from ONS/Nomis.Official profile

BENEFITS & FINANCIAL PRESSURE

How is Universal Credit changing in North Devon?

People receiving Universal Credit and how the caseload has changed over the latest 24 months.

DWP · May 2026

PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 10,766 10.6% of the 2024 resident population May 2026

CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +7.6% +759 people

LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE 0.0% -1 since April 2026

LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026

North Devon LOCAL AUTHORITY

10.6%

South West REGION

10.0%

England COUNTRY

12.3%

Percentage of the resident population receiving Universal Credit. This is not an unemployment rate.

24-MONTH TREND

People receiving Universal Credit

Monthly caseload recorded on the DWP Universal Credit system.

June 2024 May 2026

10,803 9,936 9,068

June 2024 May 2026

What does this measure?

Universal Credit provides financial support to people who are on a low income or out of work. These figures count people receiving Universal Credit, not households and not the number of people who are unemployed.

DWP Stat-Xplore

AIR QUALITY

How clean is the air?

Long-term particulate pollution across the council area, alongside measurements from local UK-AIR monitoring stations.

POPULATION-WEIGHTED ANNUAL MEAN

Fine particulate matter

No annual PM2.5 estimate is currently available.

LONG-TERM TREND

PM2.5 over time

Not enough annual data is available to show a trend.

CURRENT MONITORING

Latest station measurement

UK-AIR

PM2.5 8.4 µg/m³

Provisional

Last 24 hours 0.7 – 9.2 µg/m³

Barnstaple A39 Automatic Urban and Rural Monitoring Network (AURN) · Urban Traffic Latest measurement: 2026-09-23 01:00:00+01

This is a measurement from an individual monitoring station and should not be interpreted as the current concentration across the whole council area.

HEALTH IMPACT

Particulate air pollution

No current OHID particulate-air-pollution mortality estimate is available.

Annual PM2.5 is Defra Pollution Climate Mapping data. Monitoring readings are station-specific UK-AIR measurements and may be provisional.

HOUSING LICENSING

HMOs and property licensing

Coverage not assessedNational HMO explorer

Licensed HMOsAwaiting registerOnly licensed properties will be counted

Identifiable HMO expenditureNot identifiableNot separately described in published transactions

Inspection and enforcement dataAwaiting dataNo activity source imported yet

Coverage note

A licensed HMO register has not yet been located for this council. CouncilMetrics does not estimate HMO expenditure from broad housing or social-care descriptions.

FINANCE

How this council raises and spends money

Comparable official outturn for 2024/25, reported to central government.

MHCLG official outturn

Total service expenditure

£12.94m 2024/25 actual outturn

Net revenue expenditure

£19.58m 2024/25 actual outturn

Council Tax requirement

£10.79m 2024/25 actual outturn

Unallocated reserves

£1.24m 2024/25 actual outturn

Service expenditure per resident £128

Median for councils of the same type £166 22.8% below peer median

2024/25 SERVICE SPENDING

Where the money was spent

Net current expenditure after service income.

Actual outturn

Environmental and regulatory services Gross £15.78m · Income £5.66m

£10.12m

Central services Gross £14.74m · Income £10.70m

£4.04m

Planning and development Gross £7.11m · Income £5.75m

£1.36m

Culture and related services Gross £2.13m · Income £1.26m

£868.0k

Housing Gross £4.51m · Income £6.07m

£-1.57m

Highways and transport Gross £1.93m · Income £3.82m

£-1.89m

CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£10.79m

Retained business rates£5.94m

Revenue Support Grant£248.0k

UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £1.24m

Closing £1.24m

£0.00 increase during 2024/25

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government · Revenue Outturn RS and RSX · values shown in pounds Official dataset

BORROWING AND INVESTMENTS

Balance-sheet position

A point-in-time view of debt and liquid investments at the end of 2026/27 Q1.

MHCLG quarterly return

Outstanding borrowing

£22.50m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Investments and cash

£1.93m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt

£20.58m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt per resident

£203 Per resident using latest population

This council's net debt per resident £203

Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 113.5% higher than the peer median

QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£5.13m quarterly increase

2020/21 Q12021/22 Q32023/24 Q12024/25 Q32026/27 Q1

Latest quarterly movement +£5.13m +33.2%

Change across the series +£51.13m Net debt since 2020/21 Q1

What changed?

Net debt increased during the quarter, with higher outstanding borrowing contributing to the movement.

BORROWING COMPOSITION

Where the borrowing sits

PWLB, other longer-term borrowing and short-term borrowing.

2026/27 Q1

Public Works Loan Board£13.50m

Short-term borrowing£9.00m

MHCLG Borrowing and Investment live table · 2026/27 Q1 · values shown in pounds Official dataset

COUNCIL TAX & COLLECTION

How much council tax remains unpaid?

Council tax collection, outstanding arrears and write-offs reported to central government.

MHCLG 2025/26

Outstanding arrears

£8.90m Total outstanding at financial year-end

Collection rate

96.22% Collected against the in-year debit

Council tax written off

£157,000 Written off during the financial year

Council tax collected

£92.02m Receipts relating to the financial year

FIVE-YEAR TREND

How has unpaid council tax changed?

Outstanding arrears at each financial year-end.

2021/22–2025/26

OUTSTANDING ARREARS 2025/26

£8.90m

CHANGE SINCE 2021/22

+ 56.4%

+ £3.21m

ENGLAND CHANGE

+49.5%

Figures represent total outstanding council tax balances, including arrears carried forward from earlier years. Changes in council boundaries can affect historical comparisons.

OUTSTANDING ARREARS

Where does the unpaid council tax come from?

Breakdown of outstanding balances at the end of 2025/26.

£8.90m outstanding

CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £3.71m

41.7% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £5.19m

58.3% of outstanding arrears

Current-year arrears Earlier-years arrears

Earlier-years arrears represent unpaid council tax carried forward from previous financial years. These figures do not identify individual households or establish whether balances are recoverable.

COLLECTION PERFORMANCE

How does this council compare?

England 2025/26

In-year collection rate 96.22%

England average: 95.60% · 0.62 percentage points above England

Outstanding arrears include unpaid balances from earlier financial years and are not the same as council tax uncollected during 2025/26. Monetary values are rounded for display. Official MHCLG source

SPENDING

Published directorate expenditure

Explore all 0 records

CONTRACTS

Largest contracts

Explore all 0 contracts

Contract	Supplier	Status	End date	Original value

SUPPLIERS

Largest supplier exposure

Dated transactions

Supplier	Payments	Published expenditure

PROVENANCE

Source documents

39 imported

Document	Dataset	Period	Status	Official source
Housing Delivery Test 2025 results — North Devon	mhclg housing delivery test	HDT 2025–HDT 2025	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — North Devon	mhclg planning ps2	1979 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — North Devon	mhclg planning ps1	1996 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
Defra local authority waste statistics — North Devon District Council	defra local authority waste	2010/11–2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — North Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — North Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — North Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — North Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — North Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — North Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — North Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — North Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — North Devon	mhclg borrowing investment	2026/27 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — North Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — North Devon	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2024/25	imported	Open

How to read these figures and the Financial Health Score

Budget summaries and financial positions retain the reporting year and assurance status of their original source. Draft or unaudited values are labelled separately from audited outturn figures. The Financial Health Score uses reserves cover, net debt per resident, liquidity and quarterly debt direction from central MHCLG returns. Each component is converted to a percentile among councils of the same authority type; available components are weighted 35%, 30%, 20% and 15% respectively. A score is published only when at least three components covering 65% of the weighting are available. It is a comparative financial indicator, not an assessment of service quality or political performance.